


After all hope seems lost

by thismomentintime



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M, Gen, M/M, alternative ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-18 11:09:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14211858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thismomentintime/pseuds/thismomentintime
Summary: Rewriting history is the best way to cope, right?Watch the Hobbit. Pause it on the moment Thorin is going to die. Don't cry. Read this.





	1. The eagles are coming

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this short story about how I imagine The Hobbit actually ended. Since English is not my first language (I'm Dutch), I really appreciate every little bit of language-advice, so don't be afraid to call out any mistakes I made!  
> Hope you'll enjoy the read, thank you for taking the time to check this out <3

‘Here ends your filthy bloodline!’  
A blow, a falling body, a smack. For two dwarves, the world ended, but the third one wasn’t there to see that happen anymore.  
_I belong with my brother._ The statement resounded in Kíli’s head, stunned his mind and throttled his throat. It seemed ages ago that his brother had said that, and put his dreams aside for him… And this time he had done it again, always protecting his little brother… This time it had cost him his life. He belonged with his brother, but from this moment onwards, they were unreachable for each other, separated in the most definitive manner possible.

It didn’t take long. He fought through it bravely, raging and unstoppable because of the all-destroying loss, but he just wasn’t strong enough, or just too reckless. It was sharp and painful, and his only consolation was that _she_ were the last thing he saw before he lost his consciousness.  
But it wasn’t completely over just yet. Tauriel finished what he started and then returned to him. She couldn’t believe it. Just when she had found something to live for again, it slipped through her fingers only to leave her shattered.  
That was the moment on which Thranduil showed himself.  
She raised her tear-stained face to him and understood that of all people, he could know how she felt, no matter how ironic that might be.  
‘Why does it hurt so much?’ she exclaimed with a broken voice.  
His face was unreadable as he looked into her eyes. ‘Because it was real,’ he then said. He kneeled down at the maimed body of the only man she would ever be able to love. For a moment, she thought he would put a consolidating arm around her, but to her own surprise he bowed over Kíli and examined his body with quick, apt fingers.  
‘There’s still hope,’ he mumbled in Elfish and then Tauriel became witness of the most advanced Elf magic she could ever have imagined – Elf magic which couldn’t have saved Thranduil’s own wife and which he subsequently barely had dared using, overwhelmed by grief and sense of guilt. But now he employed this magic to save the love of Tauriel’s life, even though he was a Dwarf and a relationship between the two of them didn’t stand a chance. It was because he saw his wife’s character back in Tauriel, together with his own all-overruling grief, and that grief was something he didn’t wish upon anyone. And so Kíli was saved by Elf magic again, when his life was hanging by a thread for the second time.

Not far away from there, a tiny hobbit kneeled down by the Dwarf king, unable to do anything to stop the life from slowly seeping away from him.  
‘Go back to your books. And your armchair. Plant your trees. Watch them grow. If more people valued home above gold, this world would be a merrier place.’  
Bilbo could barely utter any words. ‘No. No, no Thorin!’ And then he saw them come, a sign of hope whenever all hope seemed to be gone. They could save him, he was sure about it, they had saved him before. ‘The eagles are here! Thorin, the eagles.’  
Desperate, he patted with his hand on Thorin’s chest, clenching to that last stray of hope, that one eagle who changed course and didn’t go into battle but steadily neared the ice-plain instead.  
To let Thorin go, to give him up to the claws of the eagle and to not be able to follow him, was one of the most difficult things that Bilbo had ever done, but he was sure that it was the only way. Paralyzed by sorrow and pain because of the Dwarf who had already left this world, he watched the eagle spread his wings and fly back to the camp beneath him. Too exhausted to immediately follow, the Hobbit stayed behind on the ice-plain, alone, with only the Pale Orc’s body as horrific company.

Without Kíli and Thorin, there was no one left to think about Fíli. Almost all Dwarves of the Company were at the foot of the mountain, embroiled in a fierce fight, with Death closer than ever, and they knew nothing about the tragedy that had played out above them – nothing more than that the Orc’s commander didn’t give any more commands so that they were on the winning hand now, to be precise.  
But one Dwarf of the four that had climbed up to the fort, was still there. That one was still standing on his legs, admittedly out of his mind of grief and sense of guilt for whom he thought to have lost, but far from tired and still alert. He knew that someone had to take Fíli’s body. As he was nearing the foot of the fort, thousands of memories flashed through his mind. Little Fíli, always together with his brother, having heroic adventures in the Blue Mountains. Little Fíli, as a true big brother keeping Kíli out of trouble whenever he had done something stupid again. Little Fíli, who grew up and developed a sense of responsibility and immediately joined the Company of Thorin Oakenshield, and who was full of ideals and combativeness and braveness. He could not believe that this Fíli had already found his ending, all alone at the foot of a derelict fort, pierced and bruised and way too young to die in a war that should never had started but that could impossibly have been prevented.  
He kneeled down by the young prince and brushed a lock of blond hair out of his pale, cold face.  
And then, the prince uttered a weak, little noise. For a moment, Dwalin thought he had imagined it, but he could impossibly suppress the foolish hope and upon feeling Fíli’s wrist he concluded that, against all odds, the young Dwarf was still alive. With his strong arms, Dwalin lifted him up and carried him down as fast as he could, to the tents at the foot of the mountain where the wounded were taken care of.  
There still was one son of Dúrin left. It wasn’t over yet.


	2. The calm after the storm

The days that followed were nerve-wracking. The whole Company was sat together, waiting and hoping and waking over their three companions. Unfortunately, Elf magic could not solve everything, and the wounded Dwarves were subjected to the good care of Oín and his helpers. Bilbo cried a lot, and Bofur was always there to put a comforting arm around him. Dwalin mainly stared into the distance, thinking of how he would never forgive himself if one of Dúrin’s sons would not survive.  
An unexpected – and for some Dwarves unwanted – guest was Tauriel. She didn’t care whether she was wanted or not, and silently she kept wait by the slowly recovering Kíli. Sometimes she muttered words to him in her own language, which made the Dwarves exceptionally uncomfortable, but they saw how much she cared about him and they couldn’t bring themselves to send her away.

Kíli was the first one to open his eyes. His throat was dry and breathing pained him, and although Tauriel was the first person he saw, his very first thought was how he wouldn’t be able to live on this earth without his brother.  
‘Kíli,’ Tauriel whispered through a haze of fresh tears.  
But he didn’t say her name back. ‘Fíli,’ was the first thing he said, with a hoarse voice.  
‘It’s alright,’ she assured him.  
‘It’s not alright, he is… he is…’ He couldn’t get the words over his lips. Scorching panic shot through him and he attempted to raise up, ignoring the burning pain in his chest.  
Quickly, Tauriel pushed him back into his bed. ‘Keep still, Fíli is doing fine. He’s gotten a nasty smack, but he’s tough. He won’t give up just like that. You should get some rest first.’  
Uncomprehending, he stared at her. ‘He’s dead, Tauriel,’ he finally forced himself to say. ‘I’ve seen it with my own eyes.’ And then he felt the tendency to tell it all. ‘I was standing beneath the fort, he had walked into the trap. Azog had him. I couldn’t see what happened, but suddenly, he slammed down, right before my feet. It is my fault.’  
‘No, Kíli, he’s alive,’ said Tauriel calmly. ‘No one understands exactly how, but viewing from his wounds, Azog couldn’t pierce through him because he was wearing a harness. And his thick mantle probably caught the biggest part of his fall for him. He’ll have a big concussion, and he’s still unconscious, but he is alive.’  
Again, Kíli tried to get up, but the little bit of colour that had appeared on his cheeks immediately faded away and Tauriel pressed him back into his cushion again.  
‘Where is he? I have to get to him!’  
‘He’s close.’  
Only then, Kíli looked around him. His heart jumped up upon seeing his brother, who was lying in another bed in a corner of the tent, but it sank back into his shoes when he saw the condition of his uncle. ‘Thorin… What happened to Thorin?’  
‘Kíli?’ Thorin opened his eyes and moaned softly. The recognition of his own name had gotten him out of his state of unconsciousness.  
‘Thorin!’ Bilbo jumped up from his chair and touched Thorin’s forehead like a worried mother.  
‘Bilbo Baggins,’ Thorin said, although his voice still sounded weak. ‘You saved my life.’  
But Bilbo shook his head, fighting back tears. ‘No, I ruined everything. I wanted to save you, but I wasn’t fast enough. I thought I’d lost you.’  
Thorin sat up and pulled the Hobbit to his chest. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Bilbo. You have done more than we ever expected from you. Without you, I would never have survived this. I’m forever grateful to you.’

While Kíli and Thorin slowly recovered, Fíli kept sleeping for days. But his wounds healed and he started to move more while he was sleeping, so it seemed to go in the right direction.  
When Thorin found out that his youngest nephew had befriended an Elf, he had been furious, but after the teasing remarks of his companions about his own regard for a certain Hobbit, he was forced to swallow his words and could do little more than sending dirty looks towards the redhaired Elf.  
As soon as Fíli finally opened his eyes, Kíli jumped on his bed and impetuously embraced his brother, not caring about Gloín’s shocked exclamations.  
The company only became entirely complete when Dís finally arrived from the Blue Mountains, together with the people who could now move into the kingdom of Erebor. She was furious at Thorin for risking a war for all the gold in the mountain, but the relief about the fact that her three beloved family members had all survived was too big to stay angry for a long period of time. However, new fury raised up in her as soon as she noticed a nauseating intimacy between her youngest son and a certain Elf-lady, but when her eldest son whispered to her that she could better worry about that after everyone had recovered and the calmness in Erebor had settled, she decided to listen to him and, just like Thorin, underwent the many tender looks while silently gritting her teeth.

As long as Thorin was still bound to his bed, Balin took upon him a diplomatic role, and everyone secretly agreed that it actually was a good thing that Thorin was locked away in a sickbay.  
On a certain day, Balin arranged a meeting between him and the two kings to whom he had declared war such a short time ago and with whom he had eventually fought side by side. Meanwhile, it had become clear to Thorin that he needed both the Elves and the Men to combat the Evil, and that he had been focusing on his gold too much.   
Expressing his apologies to an Elf still was a bridge too far for him, but he could negotiate with Bard and together they decided that Bard would receive enough gold to rebuild the city of Dale into a new residence for the Men. He could return the jewels of the Elf King, which Thorin still considered property of the Dwarves, as a war gift and thanking for his alliance, without losing his honour, and Thranduil decided to content himself with that.  
After that it was time for the sons of Dúrin to leave the sickbay and to take their residence in their reclaimed kingdom.


	3. Not quite happily ever after

‘I have talked to no one about this, but I’m not sure if I’m fit to do it,’ Thorin confessed to Bilbo. They were on a walk around the foot of the mountain together, their first time alone since the Battle of the Five Armies.  
‘What do you mean, Thorin?’ asked Bilbo.  
‘Being king.’ Thorin stopped and stared up to the mountain. ‘The Dragon Sickness… What if it happens again? I could resist it now – but just barely. I almost lost myself to it – I think you realize that better than anyone. I wouldn’t make a good king.’  
‘But Thorin, this is what you have always been fighting for! You reclaimed your kingdom! You deserve this!’  
Thorin looked at Bilbo, his face unreadable. ‘And what if I don’t deserve this?’ he asked. ‘I already reconciled myself with the idea of dying in battle. I had come to peace with that. I have asked my people to follow me one last time, and I meant that in the most literal way. When I was laying on the ice, fighting Azog, I knew it would be my last battle. It was me who decided to take away my sword and let him pierce me so that I could kill him. I knew what I was doing, Bilbo, it wasn’t some reckless act of which I didn’t oversee the consequences.’  
This silenced Bilbo for a while. ‘Do you want to be king?’ he asked at last.  
Thorin nodded, slowly. ‘Of course I want to be king. I just don’t know whether I’m worthy of it.’  
‘As long as you want to, and want the best for your people, you are worthy of it. I will stay with you and make sure that you won’t fall victim to the Dragon Sickness again,’ Bilbo promised.  
A surprised smile broke through upon Thorin’s face – a smile which still amazed Bilbo. Thorin’s smiles might be rare, but that only made them more genuine when they were there.  
‘Are you serious about that?’ Thorin asked in a soft voice.  
Bilbo nodded.  
‘But what about your books? And your armchair? Didn’t you want nothing more than to go home?’  
But Bilbo resolutely shook his head. ‘I changed my mind,’ he said. ‘If there is anything I learned during this journey, it is that home is there where your friends are. I wouldn’t bear abandoning you here. I’m part of the Company, aren’t I?’  
Then, something happened which he had never expected: Thorin kneeled down for him on the rocky ground. ‘If I am to be king, Bilbo Baggins, my burglar, will you stand by my side forever?’  
Bilbo’s heart stopped beating. He wondered if he had understood it correctly. All the teasing of the Dwarves during the last few days had never seemed like anything more than teasing to Thorin. Had he seen it wrongly? Or did he interpret this situation wrongly?  
Upon his silence, the hopeful look on Thorin’s face faded. ‘I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Forget that I ever asked this from you. I thought you – I don’t know what I was thinking.’  
‘Thorin, no, I mean, yes! Of course, I do wish to!’ Bilbo exclaimed quickly, still not able to process what had just happened.  
For the second time in a short while, Thorin smiled. He stood up and no more words were needed. He took the Hobbit into his strong arms, where he was warm and safe.

‘Kíli?’  
He looked up to his stunning Elf. ‘Hmm?’ he muttered, too happy to talk. For the first time, they were all alone. They were hiding in the shadow of the trees at the foot of the Lonely Mountain, pressed closely to each other, peacefully on the last mild day of autumn.  
‘How does it go on now?’ asked Tauriel.  
Kíli grinned. ‘It’s gonna be a fairytale, of course. Erebor will be all renovated, Thorin will be King Under the Mountain…’  
‘And what about us?’  
‘We will find a way to make this work,’ he said, earnestly. His hand folded around the runestone in his pocket. His promise.  
‘How?’  
Carefree, Kíli shrugged. ‘We’ll see,’ he said.  
But Tauriel looked at him in disbelief. ‘Are you joking? It won’t solve itself automatically, Kíli! No one will agree to it! We must – ‘  
‘Can’t we just stay in this perfect bubble for a little while longer?’ Kíli begged.  
Tauriel shook her head, insensitive for his big brown eyes. ‘I can’t keep waiting and act like nothing is going on,’ she said resolutely. ‘I want to go on with you. You want to go on with me. It’s better to confront everyone with it immediately. I made my decision, Kíli. If they don’t agree to that, I want to leave. With you.’  
Something resembling fear seemed to shine in Kíli’s eyes. ‘Are you serious?’  
She nodded.  
‘Tauriel, you don’t understand.’  
‘Of course I understand! I almost watched you die, I thought I had lost you… That pain, that grief… I never want to feel that again. I want to be with you. Forever. And I know you want the same thing.’  
‘Of course I want that,’ said Kíli. ‘But you have so much less to lose than I do. I have my uncle, my mother, I have Fíli. I just got my home back. I don’t think I’m ready to give all that up.’  
Tauriel’s face hardened. ‘Then you’ll have to make that decision soon. You know your uncle will never allow this.’  
Kíli sighed, feeling miserable. ‘Please give me some time.’  
‘What do you mean by that? Do you want to let me wait for an uncertain amount of time? You told me you loved me Kíli, I didn’t forget about that.’  
He stretched his hand out to hers and gave it a soft squeeze. ‘Me neither, I promise. Is it really that bad to keep it secret for a little while longer? Maybe, if we are careful and do this step by step, there is a chance for us to be together. Right here, in Erebor.’  
For a moment, Tauriel closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. ‘Alright, then,’ she finally said. ‘Although I don’t give you much hope.’  
A sad smile appeared on Kíli’s lips. ‘I know. But at least I want to try.’

‘Is this a joke?’ Lady Dís clasped to her broom to keep herself upright.  
A little scared, Thorin shook his head. His sister could be quite intimidating at times, and she certainly wasn’t someone you wanted to have against you. He had prepared for a shocked reaction, but that didn’t lessen his fear for what was about to come.  
‘You and… the Hobbit?’  
‘Bilbo.’ Thorin couldn’t help it. ‘His name is Bilbo. And he saved my life. About five times by now.’  
Dís shook her head, perplexed. ‘You’re kidding, right?’  
‘No. And my decision won’t change.’  
Suddenly, a tensed laugh escaped her mouth.  
Confused, Thorin looked at her. ‘Why are you laughing?’  
‘I just can’t believe this!’ she exclaimed. ‘I leave you guys alone for less than a year and… and… Mahal, what will Fíli come home with?’  
‘What are you talking about?’  
‘About you, you idiot! You and that Hobbit, Kíli and an Elf, no less! What is wrong with you?’  
‘Kíli… Kíli and an Elf?’ Thorin muttered.  
The look on Dís’ face changed so suddenly that it was almost comical. ‘You’re not going to claim that you haven’t noticed that, are you?’  
‘What… No, Dís! If you’re talking about that Elf-woman with the red hair, Tauriel… No, that’s impossible, you’re seeing that wrong. He’s at most grateful because she saved his life. That’s all. No, it is disgusting to even think about that, no way!’  
‘Are you genuinely that ignorant, Thorin Oakenshield, King Under the Mountain?’ asked Dís mockingly.  
‘No, I’m being serious. I want to hear nothing more about that matter,’ said Thorin firmly. ‘Besides, a Hobbit is completely different than an Elf. An Elf, in Mahal’s name!’  
Shaking her head, Dís looked at him. ‘At least you’re right about one thing,’ she admitted. ‘Hobbits by far aren’t as bad as Elves. I should be happy for you, shouldn’t I?’  
Thorin nodded. ‘Yes, you definitely should,’ he confirmed. ‘I love him and nothing will change that.’


	4. To love or to lose

Kíli avoided both his family and the Company as much as possible. He knew that certain Dwarves – his brother and mother in particular – were holding unspoken presumptions about his relation with Tauriel and he was not ready to be confronted with that just yet. But of course, avoiding his brother turned out to be impossible.  
‘Kíli.’  
He jumped up and turned around to see Fíli leaning in the doorway.  
‘What are you doing here?’ he asked suspiciously, while wondering how his brother could have ever found him here. He had chosen the very most remote place to perform his repair jobs: on his own he had hiked to the upper viewpoint of the Mountain.  
‘Looking for you, of course,’ said Fíli.  
‘How did you find me?’ He couldn’t help asking.  
‘I looked for you,’ Fíli simply answered. He walked towards him. ‘You’re avoiding me.’  
Kíli couldn’t deny that, so he remained silent.  
‘Why are you avoiding me? We belong together, Kíli. We’ve never been apart. We got our home back. We survived a war. Everything is just the way it should be.’  
Kíli was used to messing around with his brother, doing all kinds of mischief – not to have deep conversations with him. It made him uncomfortable to hear Fíli talk like this. These words sounded too wise for him. At that moment, Kíli fully realized for the first time what it meant that Fíli would later become king – and he also realized that Fíli would be a good king.  
‘I don’t know what’s going on,’ Fíli continued. ‘But you don’t have to keep secrets from me. I’m your brother, your best friend, and I will never betray you, you know that.’  
‘But you will have an opinion on the matter,’ Kíli finally said. ‘I know why you’re here. You come to judge me. You’re gonna try to change my mind. You won’t succeed. I love her.’  
‘I know,’ said Fíli. ‘And you’re wrong. I didn’t come to talk you down. I indeed wouldn’t succeed; I’ve known you for about seventy-seven years now. No, I wanted to tell you that you should stop being so stupid. It’s no use to hide it.’  
‘I didn’t want to hide it forever. I just want to… prepare them a bit.’  
‘You know that that won’t work. She’s and Elf, Kíli, she’s – ‘  
‘I know what she is,’ Kíli snarled. ‘I don’t care.’  
‘I know that!’ said Fíli quickly. ‘That’s why you can better tell is as soon as possible. They won’t be happy with it anyway. You won’t solve anything by procrastinating.’  
Kíli sighed miserably. ‘They’ll forbid me to marry her. And then I’ll have to leave. I have no choice.’  
But Fíli shook his head. ‘Of course not. Thorin is engaged to a Hobbit himself, he has no right to say anything about it.’  
‘There’s a huge difference between a Hobbit and an Elf!’ said Kíli, full of frustration. ‘And mum wasn’t all too happy with Bilbo already.’  
‘You forget that I’m still here.’  
‘What use are you?’  
Inadvertently, Fíli laughed. ‘More use than you, little brother,’ he said. ‘I’m the heir. I actually have quite some influence. And I will do everything in my power to keep you here. Besides, at the end of the day, when they realize it’s serious, they don’t really have much of a choice either. They certainly don’t want to lose you.’  
But Kíli couldn’t be convinced that easily. ‘I wouldn’t be too sure about that.’  
‘What do you mean?’ Fíli asked, confused.  
‘You know exactly what I mean,’ Kíli mumbled. ‘What use am I, indeed? I’ve only ever gotten us into trouble. I’ve never been of any use. Always difficult, annoying, reckless. And then you, the perfect eldest son, could clean up the mess I made.’ He didn’t manage to suppress his bitter undertone as well as he had wanted to.  
Fíli didn’t know what to say.  
‘Is that really the way you see it?’ he finally asked, reluctantly.  
‘It is the truth, you know that just as well as I do!’  
‘Nonsense!’ Fíli exclaimed. ‘Okay, you might be a little bit right, but that doesn’t mean that they care about you any less! You’re still mum’s son, and Thorin’s nephew, and yes, you may have caused more trouble than I did, and you might have just created the biggest problem they’ll ever deal with, but that has nothing to do with their love for you! I bet that Thorin caused more trouble than mum, back in the day.’  
He had never known that this was Kíli’s view on their lives and it baffled him completely.  
‘But Thorin would never fall in love with an Elf.’  
‘He did fall in love with a Hobbit.’  
‘Not with an Elf.’  
‘So?’  
‘Elves and Hobbits aren’t comparable.’  
Fíli felt frustration grow inside him. ‘Then what do you want? You can’t keep on hiding it, Kíli, Tauriel wouldn’t want that either – it’s simply impossible. You can better admit it now.’  
But Kíli didn’t say anything.  
‘Don’t be so stubborn, how many times do I have to say that it is useless to keep postponing it?’  
‘I’m scared.’ The confession was barely more than a whisper and for a moment, Fíli thought he had heard it wrongly. Kíli had never been scared in his life. The only time he had seen his brother getting close to scared, was when they got separated on the rocks in the Misty Mountains.  
But then Fíli realized that this was a different kind of fear, a fear which had nothing to do with that – fear of losing your loved ones because they didn’t accept you for who you were, instead of losing them by death. His gaze softened and he put a hand on his little brother’s shoulder. ‘You don’t have to be scared,’ he carefully said. ‘I’ll stay right by your side. Whatever happens. Just trust me.’  
‘Alright,’ Kíli sighed.

The four of them were sat in the royal dining-room. It was the first time that they could use this room again, and Dís, Thorin and Fíli all seemed excited about it, but Kíli couldn’t get one bite of the food through his throat.  
Only after his brother had sent him some encouraging looks, he finally dared to open his mouth.  
‘I have to tell you something,’ he started, cautiously. He had planned carefully what he was going to say and as soon as he got their attention he continued. ‘There is someone who has grown very special to me in a short time. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. So um… I hope that you will consent with me asking her to marry me.’ He couldn’t remember if those were indeed the words he had so painstakingly rehearsed.  
Thorin and Dís looked at him interrogatively.  
‘Who is it?’ asked Dís, immediately suspicious when he didn’t finish his story.  
‘Her name is Tauriel,’ Kíli mumbled. He couldn’t bring himself to look his mother or uncle into their eyes, who both looked at the young prince in shock.  
‘Tauriel? Tauriel the Elf? From Mirkwood?’ Thorin asked with a suppressed fury that made his voice tremble.  
Kíli nodded, a guilt-stricken look on his face.  
Thorin raised into his full length. ‘Are you out of your mind?’ he roared with his low voice. ‘An Elf! What do you think you’re doing? You’re a prince, this is high treason, I can’t allow this!’  
‘Thorin – ‘  
‘Don’t say you already predicted this, Dís! I could never have expected this!’ His narrowed eyes pierced into his nephew’s threateningly. ‘Leave,’ he then said.  
‘Thorin, I – ‘  
‘Don’t you dare contradict the King under the Mountain! Get out of my sight!’  
Kíli felt he had no choice. He couldn’t bring himself to look at his mother, so his gaze met Fíli’s. Almost unnoticeable his brother shook his head, his blue eyes full of compassion. But Kíli got up from his chair and left the dining-room. Perfect. He had managed to mess up the first royal dinner in the reclaimed Erebor. Leave that to prince Kíli.

But he wasn’t alone for a long time. Already before he could go around the corner, he got called back, and when he turned around he saw both Fíli and Dís standing before the closed doors to the royal chambers.  
‘Don’t leave,’ said Fíli strictly.  
Dís looked at her son with her most threatening gaze. ‘I won’t say I didn’t see that one coming,’ she said coldly. ‘To be honest, I figured you out from the very first moment I set foot in that cursed sickbay.’  
‘I love her, I can’t help it,’ said Kíli defensive.  
‘It disgusts me,’ said Dís, and the disappointment in her voice hurt Kíli more than Bolg’s sword had ever done. ‘But I also see that it is real. And no matter what, you are my son. Reckless and unmanageable and foolish, but still my son.’  
Kíli shook his head. ‘That’s not true. I’m leaving. I have to be with her.’  
‘You’re not going anywhere,’ said Dís strictly. ‘If she is the one to make you happy, I cannot change that. I’m not stupid. We’ll just have to tolerate it.’  
An unbelieving smile broke through on Kíli’s face. ‘Are you serious?’  
Dís nodded. ‘Unfortunately, I am. I can’t just let my own son run away.’  
Although he was half a head taller than his mother, he impetuously launched himself into her arms as if he were still a child, over the moon that she was able to accept his decision.  
Dís pressed her forehead against his and Fíli pressed himself into their embrace.  
‘But what about Thorin?’ asked Kíli, a little alarmed.  
‘We’ll talk some sense into him,’ Dís reassured him in a motherly voice. ‘He himself is to marry a Hobbit, after all.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was it already. I hope you enjoyed this read, please let me know what you think about it! And thank you very much for actually spending your time reading my story, it means a lot to me :)


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